Watch: Our conversation with an expert on cured-in-place pipe; “If you captured the waste, you would remove the public health issue”

A leaking sewer pipe at Audubon Terrace was relined in 2015 using CIPP technology.

On Monday, February 14th, Forest Hills Connection hosted a conversation on cured-in-place pipe, or CIPP, with the environmental engineer who has been studying the pipe relining method since 2013.

You can watch the Q&A with Andrew Whelton here or on YouTube.

We’ll write more on this soon, but here are a couple of quick takeaways:

CIPP can be used safely, if done correctly. “If you captured the waste, you would remove the public health issue.”

However, in data on CIPP going back more than 30 years, Whelton has never seen the method used safely anywhere. “That’s because the industry has openly cooked plastic outside, without any pollution controls.”

The District Department of Energy and the Environment is gathering information on CIPP. Whelton said DOEE is still taking an active interest in the Soapstone CIPP project though the agency’s director said during a recent Council oversight hearing that DC Water would not need an air quality permit once it switched from steam to hot water curing.

DC Water is hosting a virtual public meeting on the Soapstone sewer project on Thursday, February 17th at 6:30 p.m. Register at dcwater.com/soapstone to participate on Microsoft Teams. Or call 202-753-6714 and enter ID code 274 001 767# to listen in on the phone.